October 24, 2016 Volume xxii, #40

“A designer knows he has achieved perfection not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.”
—Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (French writer, poet, aristocrat, and aviator, 1900-1944)

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Outstanding retailers awarded during gala awards dinner at Hardlines Conference

NIAGARA FALLS, Ont. — The Canadian home improvement industry gathered last week to recognize its top retailers during Hardlines’ 2016 Outstanding Retailer Awards. The awards were part of a gala dinner that concluded day one of the 21st Annual Hardlines Conference, held in Niagara Falls, Ont.

Hardlines, the information service for the retail home improvement industry, again celebrated the industry’s finest from across the country, who were honoured in seven categories covering the range of hardware and home improvement retailing formats.

“There is something about each of this year’s winners that impressed the judges, not only for their business acumen and leadership skills, but for their ability to connect with their customers and their communities in a profound way,” said Michael McLarney, editor and president of Hardlines Inc.

The winners of the 2016 Outstanding Retailer Awards are:

• Best Hardware Store – Brantford Home Hardware, Brantford, Ont.;
• Best Building Supply/Home Centre under 15,000 square feet – Home Building Centre-Salmon Arm, Salmon Arm, B.C.;
• Best Building Supply/Home Centre over 15,000 square feet – Vanderhoof and Districts Co-op Home Centre, Vanderhoof, B.C.;
• Best Contractor Specialist Store – Sen Western Wholesale Lumber (TIMBER MART) in Vancouver, B.C.;
• Best Large Surface Retailer – RONA Home & Garden, Kelowna, B.C.;
• Young Retailer of the Year – Cindy Caron and Raphaël D’Amours, Quincaillerie Palmarolle (TIMBER MART), Palmarolle, Que.;
• Marc Robichaud Memorial Community Leader Award – Orillia Home Hardware Building Centre, Orillia, Ont.

The ORAs were founded more than two decades ago as a way to honour and recognize the finest retailers in the hardware/home improvement industry. This year’s winning entries operate their stores, motivate their employees, connect with their customers, and contribute to their local communities in ways that put them ahead of their peers and identified them as truly outstanding to the Hardlines panel of judges.

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Differentiate or die: lessons from the Hardlines Conference

NIAGARA FALLS, Ont. — Staying focused on the customer was a message that came through loud and clear at the 21st Annual Hardlines Conference.

The event, which gathered 165 people at the Sheraton on the Falls hotel in Niagara Falls, kicked off with Jay Heubner, president of Ace International, who warned the audience to “differentiate or die.” He stressed the importance of dealers staying focused on customer service, “because service is our only competitive differentiation.”

He also said the partnership in Canada with Lowe’s could be mutually beneficial, as the big box and traditional store both appeal to their own groups of customers.

Dan Tratensek, vice president of publishing at the North American Retail Hardware Association, provided the results of a recent poll of dealers in Canada and the U.S. The eye-opening findings identified how dealers are evolving their businesses and where they are looking to invest. Tratensek pointed out that the biggest growth categories by far for Canadian dealers are plumbing, paint and sundries, and lawn and garden-outdoor living.

Nicholas Couture is general manager of Gabriel Couture & Fils Ltée, a TIMBER MART dealer in Richmond, Que. He gave his grassroots story of growing up in the family business and being challenged now to grow it while maintaining the spirit and passion that typifies an independent operation.

While many of the presentations over the two days were devoted to the inexorable rise of online selling, one online leader gave some sobering statistics. Sumit Srivastava of eBay Canada told the delegates that only about 13% of Canadian retailers are selling online. However, online sales are expected to grow by 3% annually over the next three years, while bricks-and-mortar sales are forecast to grow by only 2.6%.

Along with top retail and economic speakers, the delegates at the Hardlines Conference benefitted from two days of networking, great food, and an incredible view of Niagara Falls. (We’ll announce the date and location for next year’s conference soon. Stay tuned! —Editor)

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Home Hardware real estate acquisition strategy aims to help dealers grow

ST. JACOBS, Ont. ― Part of Home Hardware’s growth strategy is to help and encourage its existing member dealers to expand their existing operations. That can be either by adding to an existing store, or moving to a new location and building a larger outlet, one that typically carries a full range of hardlines and LBM, often under the Home Hardware Building Centre banner.

To assist those dealers with that transition and to manage that kind of investment, Home is increasingly buying the land under those stores and leasing it back to the dealers.

The dealer-owned co-op has “a big annual capital fund to help dealers grow their business,” says Terry Davis, CEO of Home Hardware Stores. He adds that the fund can also help dealers buy real estate of their own. And Home will also be proactive, buying up real estate in various communities in a pre-emptive strike to keep competing banners from moving in.

While Home has always carried a small inventory of “corporate” stores, often to hold onto a site while searching for a new owner to take it over, it got into the real estate business more seriously first with the acquisition of Crown Stores, a Calgary-based chain of 55 home centres, in 1988. But with the takeover of Beaver Lumber in 2000, Home found itself with another 90-plus properties.

Davis says that by becoming the landlord for some of its dealers, it can remove some of the risks involved in managing the real estate and focus on running their retail businesses.

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Dealer associations announce formalized union under CRBSC umbrella

NIAGARA FALLS, Ont. — Leaders from each of Canada’s home improvement dealers’ associations met during the recent Hardlines Conference to formalize their union under an umbrella association, the Canadian Retail Building Supply Council (CRBSC).

Those associations: The Atlantic Building Supply Association (ABSDA), Quebec Hardware and Building Materials Association (AQMAT), Lumber and Building Materials Association of Ontario (LBMAO), Western Retail Lumber Association (WRLA), and the Building Supply Industry Association of British Columbia (BSIA), have been working behind the scenes to create a unified voice for the industry under the umbrella council. Each group will be an equal shareholder in CRBSC.

Richard Darveau, president and CEO of AQMAT, and current CRBSC chair, took the occasion of the conference, which had gathered 165 leaders from retail, wholesale, and vendor sides of the industry in one room, to announce the formalization of the CRBSC and its first board meeting, which took place following the conference itself.

“The potential force we will represent together is impressive,” Darveau told the group. “The total membership of our five associations is more than 3,000 retailers, more than 500 suppliers, and all the buying groups and distributors involved in the market.” He added that the drive to unify efforts is a direct response to the needs and desires of the retailers, buying groups, and suppliers in this industry.

Key initiatives of CRBSC will be to provide a forum that allows members to share ideas, information, and best practices for the betterment of the hardware and building materials industry in Canada. It intends to represent this sector before federal government authorities and to promote and defend the interests of its members by undertaking communication initiatives, taking policy positions, and offering educational activities.

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CLASSIFIED ADS

WANTED: VENDORS INTERESTED IN INCREASING THEIR E-COMMERCE SALES

We’re seeking vendors who want to meet top North American e-Retailers. HARDLINES is hosting meetings with senior buyers at the first-ever Home Improvement eRetailer Summit.

The eRetailer Summit, October 26-28, 2016 in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., has been developed to connect home improvement manufacturers and distributors with prominent online retailers who are interested in increasing online sales of home improvement products.

The Summit will provide a forum for eRetail leaders to share their vision and objectives with a select group of vendors, who will get face time and the chance to share strategies. The intimate environment of the eRetailer Summit will help all sides work better together to optimize the Internet as a distribution channel. Click here to see the full lineup of eRetailers confirmed so far: http://eretailersummit.com/.

This is an invitation-only event that will be held at the Hilton Fort Lauderdale Beach Resort, October 26 to 28, 2016 in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Special Introductory rates for Hardlines Subscribers. Contact Beverly Allen: 1-647-880-4589 or bev@hardlines.ca.

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